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    Thursday, June 7, 2018

    Amazon Buys Premier League Broadcast Rights From 2019

    Move could be a 'game changer' for sports rights as digital companies join a competitive market.
    Premier League games will be streamed on Amazon from the 2019/20 season after the US tech giant purchased one of the remaining rights packages.
    Sky Sports and BT Sport will continue to broadcast games after buying the rights to 160 matches for almost £4.5bn earlier this year, but they will do so alongside Amazon, who will show 20 matches per season for an initial three year period.
    They have moved to secure one of the two remaining packages with BT buying up the other for £90m. From August 2019 they will now show 52 games per season with Sky 128.

    Every Premier League club will be featured across two full rounds of 20 matches per season, including Bank Holiday fixtures with plans for weekly highlights also.

    The landmark move means that on designated weekends, every single game being played will be broadcast to a UK audience – the first time this has ever happened.
    It's also the first time that packages of livestreaming games have been offered and it is understood that the growing audience in the US in particular has persuaded Amazon to take the plunge.
    The company confirmed the move will come at no extra cost to existing Prime Video users but for those not already subscribed to the streaming service it will see a further increase in the cost of watching football which has drawn an understandably mixed response from fans.

    Facebook were understood to be interested in one of the remaining unsold packages but it is Amazon who has won through breaking the current stranglehold held by Sky and BT.
    The move continues Amazon's diversification into sport following the multi-million dollar decision in April to buy up the exclusive UK rights to show US Open tennis.
    The announcement came at the Premier League's annual meeting on Thursday which also saw clubs agree for the first time to distribute some foreign television revenue based on where a team finishes from the 2019/20 season.

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